Hello all. We have all seen discussions regarding what is needed for steam and diesel servicing facilities. Diesels need the water and fueling platforms, steam need water standpipes and coaling towers. But here’s the twist.
How would you model a fueling facility for oil burners? Obviously it would still have the water standpipes, but what type of equipment was needed to put fuel-oil in the Vanderbuilt tenders? Has anyone modeled this?
ezielinski,
You can either have tanker trucks suppling oil to the individual tenders or stacked oil tanks near the fueling platform, with a fueling hose nearby.
Tom
Model Railroad Craftsman or Model Railroad Mag had article on fueling facalties for oil burner.
I’m using a tank and a column for my oil service facilities. Also you don’t need an ash pit.
Funny how when everything west of the Rockies was oil, all the models of tenders made for Western Railroads like SP are all coal.
Creative Model Associates makes Oil Column. I belive Tichy make one too, however I can’t find a reference for it.
You would also need oil storage tank(s), unloading cranes or hose with flange, piping and gate valve and a pump house or shelter.
How many storage tanks and their capacity depends on how many locomotives needed refueling over a period of time.
If it’s a busy terminal, there should be a service track for storing and unloading tanker cars.
If the prototype had switched to oil from coal, there may still be a ash pit of some sort and possibly a coaling tower. Unlike a wooden coaling tower, a concrete coaling tower is difficult and expensive to knock down and haul away, so they just usually let them stand were they are. They may also retain them for foreign or leased power.
Let me add a couple more options or thoughts.
Main storage tanks can be above ground or below ground, and can be located a good distance away from the actual fueling point.
Some times they pumped from the main storage tank to an above ground (or elevated) day tank. This could have goose-neck or articulated spouts for fueling the tenders (as in the photo below) or be piped to a nearby stand pipe.
Keep in mind that most fuel oils were very thick and needed steam heating coils to keep it liquid enough to flow.
If your engine service facility is close to the edge of your layout (like mine is) and if space was tight, you could get away with doing without the main storage tank and just model the day tank and stand pipe.
Regards
Ed
Ed,
That looks kinda sorta like mine.
I haven’t modeled it…yet…but I do know of a few oil tanks. http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXAK41&P=0
SpaceMouse, regardless of the fuel being used, engine terminals still need a pit for inspecting and servicing motive power. Particularly in your period, when virtually all steam locos had valve gear inside the frames - the pit was often needed to inspect and lubricate the valve motion.
Everything west of the Rockies was not oil-burning. There are models of oil tenders.
Cheers,
Mark.
True, I was making a broad generalization. There were coal mines in Arizona for instance, but mostly oil (and some wood) was used. And I should have said, non-brass currently in production, or some such thing in refereeing to oil tenders.
That’s the trouble with broad generalisations, they’re usually wrong. There were coal mines all over the west, not just in Arizona. Where do you reckon the NP got all their Rosebud lignite from?
Sorry, but that’s not the case. In the period you’re modelling, oil-burning was still in the experimental stage. It wasn’t until about 1900 and after that oil firing became commonplace on US railroads. For your time and locale, wood and coal were the fuels in use. Even in the later years, there wasn’t a single road west of the Rockies that was exclusively oil-burning.
Cheers,
Mark.
Obviously you are far more knowledgeable than I am. But when I think about what I am modeling I am thinking more in terms of the basement layout that I am planning rather than the temporary layout I am building which is where I have done most of my research. Of course you have no way of knowing that. The current 1885 layout is SP in the higher foothills of the Sierras and I believe oil was being used. However, even if it is not I’m willing to suspend reality on this one. Like I said, it’s temporary and really just to gain experience.
What I am “modeling” is the California Western and Northwestern Pacific in 1917 and they were both exclusively oil burners. Now I have been able to find MDC oil tenders on ebay, but they are of a later period.
Fair enough. I have to ask though, why do you believe that the SP was an oil-burning road by 1885?
Again, that’s the problem with generalisations - you’re quite right about these roads. I should have qualified my previous statement: There were no Class 1 roads west of the Rockies that were exclusively oil-burning…[:)]
Cheers,
Mark.
A guess really. Pictures I’ve seen of the late 1800’s of SP in the San Francisco area show mostly oil burners(but not all)–converted coal tenders. And the fact that the area I’m imagining is within 50-75 miles of large oil fields. My layout is pure fantasy, I admit. The towns are Rock Ridge and Train City named by my 8 year old.
With all of this discussion about Western roads and oil burners, what about Eastern roads? Did they not also use oil burners?
Yes, some did. But the majority of Eastern roads burned coal right up until the demise of steam.
Mark.
SP locomotives ran on wood and later coal, much of which was imported from mines in British Columbia. Originally it was thought that steam boilers would explode if anyone tried to fire them with oil. It wasn’t until the 1890’s that Captain Robert Dollar converted a small lumber steamer named the Newsboy to burn oil that it was proved that oil fired boilers were practical. When the big California oil strikes of the 1900’s came in, the SP was convinced and went over to oil firing and never looked back…except for it’s Golden State Route through New Mexico which had on line coal deposits.
Thanks Jim. I guess the oil tank goes on the shelf and I change to think about fitting a coal tower. At least I have 5 less tenders to convert to oil.
I’m intrigued. I had some correspondence with John White a few years back on the early development of oil firing in the US. He reckoned the SP’s earliest experiments with oil were around 1899-1900. Can you post some photos?
Cheers,
Mark.
Hello Crb2900.
Good question. Yes, there were a few oil burners in the east side of the U.S.
However, railroads like the Pittsburgh and Lake Erie, Norfolk & Western, and the Pennsylvania not only hauled enormous amounts of coal for their customers, they also had easy access to it and were able to obtain it at very cheap prices. Although dieselization had been in full swing, Norfolk & Western and Pennsy still had some coal burning steamers running in the late 1950s!